Ranji Trophy Live Score: Day 3, Round 1

Updates from day three of all the matches across India in round one of the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy. The 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season opened to a rousing reception at the sleepy town of Lahli where Mumbai took on Haryana. Mumbai's Sachin Tendulkar and Saurashtra's Sitanshu Kotak will quit first-class cricket after the first match this season.

Updates from day three of all the matches across India in round one of the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy. The 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season opened to a rousing reception at the sleepy town of Lahli where Mumbai took on Haryana. Mumbai's Sachin Tendulkar and Saurashtra's Sitanshu Kotak will quit first-class cricket after the first match this season.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cricketnext/ranji-trophy-live-score-day-3-round-1/431095-78.html?utm_source=ref_article

Updates from day three of all the matches across India in round one of the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy. The 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season opened to a rousing reception at the sleepy town of Lahli where Mumbai took on Haryana. Mumbai's Sachin Tendulkar and Saurashtra's Sitanshu Kotak will quit first-class cricket after the first match this season.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cricketnext/ranji-trophy-live-score-day-3-round-1/431095-78.html?utm_source=ref_article

Updates from day three of all the matches across India in round one of the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy. The 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season opened to a rousing reception at the sleepy town of Lahli where Mumbai took on Haryana. Mumbai's Sachin Tendulkar and Saurashtra's Sitanshu Kotak will quit first-class cricket after the first match this season. Live Blog: Mumbai need 240 to gift Tendulkar a win File photo of India batsman Sachin Tendulkar. (BCCI) Share New LG LED TVs Enjoy the Next Generation LED TVs Explore the Best Picture Quality www.lg.com/in/led-lcd-tv SBI Life Insurance Plans Get Rs 1 Crore Life Cover@Rs. 543/M Compare 46 Insurer Under 1 Minute! SBI.TermInsuranceIndia.co.in Zivame™- Buy 1 Get 1 Free From Bras, Panties, Tops & More. Big Sale. Top Brands. Shop Now! www.Zivame.com/Lingerie_Sale New SUV - Mahindra Bolero Offers Commanding Driver Position. Low Maintenance. Test Drive Now! MahindraBolero.com/Test-Drive Ads by Google From Around the Web An Indian Student in Tel Aviv Brings a New Wave of cooperation between Israeli and Indian enterprises (The Times Of Israel) Black is Beautiful - In Israel Too (CNN) Canterbury England Kit 2012 - Video 9: Team Captain (YouTube) Two Incredible Saves In 11 Seconds (PBH2) The 5 Most Impossible Goals You Will Ever See (PBH2) More from IBNLive Patna girls elope, marry each other at a Sasaram temple Salma Hayek suffers wardrobe malfunction TN: Woman 'confesses' to husband's murder in reality show, surrenders Priyanka Chopra: I am not a jealous person It's a great honour to host Tendulkar in Haryana: ex-BCCI chief Recommended by #ranji trophy live score #ranji trophy live updates #ranji trophy 2013 14 #mumbai vs haryana #sachin tendulkar #mumbai #lahli #cricket #cricket news WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? 0 0 (For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest) Must watch Dawood entered India's dressing room in Sharjah: VengsarkarDawood entered India's dressing room in Sharjah: Vengsarkar Lahli all set for Sachin's last matchLahli all set for Sachin's last match Sachin fever grips Lahli as Mumbai play HaryanaSachin fever grips Lahli as Mumbai play Haryana Sachin Tendulkar fever grips LahliSachin Tendulkar fever grips Lahli How safe is your plastic money Top News Patna blasts: 2nd suspect in custody; Shinde not to go to Patna today Sushil Kumar Shinde has a life beyond Patna: Khurshid Tehseen Akhtar may have planted the bomb at Gandhi Maidan: sources Pre-poll survey: BJP sweeps Madhya Pradesh, may win 148-160 seats Pre-poll survey: BJP set to decimate Cong in Chhattisgarh, win 61-71 seats Mukesh Ambani tops the Forbes India rich list yet again Gujarat: PM to share dais with Modi at Sardar Patel museum opening No intention of joining politics: Sachin Tendulkar Odisha: Woman teacher set on fire, school inspector absconding Sign in to see what your Facebook friends are reading CRICKET SCORES CURRENT & RECENT COMING UP IND vs AUS (ODI) Match Abandoned PAK vs SA (Test) South Africa beat Pakistan by an innings and 92 runs BAN vs NZ (Test) Bangladesh drew with New Zealand IND vs AUS (ODI) Australia beat India by 4 wickets PREVIOUSChris Tremlett eyes Clarke scalp in Ashes NEXTStrong Australia A side to face England

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Don in dressing room?

Dawood Ibrahim watches a cricket match in Sharjah. Dilip Vengsarkar (inset) has revealed that in 1986 Dawood had offered Indian players cars if they beat Pakistan in the Austral-Asia Cup final


Vengsarkar reveals Dawood had offered cars to Indian players for a win over Pak in Austral-Asia Cup final in Sharjah.

Former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar yesterday made a startling revelation about underworld don Dawood Ibrahim entering the Indian team dressing room and offering the players cars if they beat Pakistan in the final of the Sharjah tournament in 1986.

Vengsarkar claimed that Dawood had walked into the team's dressing room a day before the match and offered each player a Toyota car if they beat Pakistan and won the Austral-Asia Cup in Sharjah.

As the fate would have it, it turned out to be an iconic match in which Javed Miandad hit Chetan Sharama for a six off the last ball to establish Pakistan's supremacy over India, particularly in the Gulf venue.

Vengsarkar said the fugitive gangster was introduced by the famous actor Mehmood as a businessman. However, Dawood was asked by the then India's captain Kapil Dev to walk out of the dressing room.

"Actor Mehmood was in our dressing room. Kapil Dev was not in the dressing room at that time because he had gone out to address the press conference. Dawood was introduced by actor Mehmood," Vengsarkar recalled at a function in Jalgaon.

"No one recognised him but I had seen his photographs. Mehmood introduced him to us as a big businessman from here (in the Gulf). Mehmood said he wants to announce a prize for us. He said 'If you beat Pakistan tomorrow, everyone will get a car'. Jayawant Lele was our manager then," he added.

The match will be best remembered for the last-ball six hit by Javed Miandad off Chetan Sharma that helped Pakistan win the trophy.

However, none of Vengsarkar's teammates, who were part of the squad of that tournament, could recall any such instance. Kirti Azad, who played that match, said he does not remember any such incident. "If at all such an episode happened, I would have appreciated if Dilip had intimated the CBI back then. Kapil Dev was the one who introduced the rule that no one would be allowed in the Indian team's dressing room apart from the manager and team officials. Even our family members weren't allowed to break the sanctum of the dressing room," Azad said.

However, there is corroboration for what Vengsarkar has said. Ravi Shastri had once talked about this in the famous Manoj Prabhakar sting operation. In that sting, Shastri says he knew it and left dressing room early. And then went on to talk about Kapil Dev as well. "Yes, he (Dawood) used to come... Do you (Prabhakar) remember he once came to the dressing room? Kapil Bhaiya told us... You were not there in 1986? He (Dawood) came to the dressing room in Sharjah... Others were clever. I came to know early. I sneaked out to have tea. Kapil stood up and asked him... who are you? Please go out. Then he (Kapil) came to know, went to him and apologized... Ha..ha ..Ha..."

Vengsarkar, however, denied making such a statement. "I've not made such comments. There appears to be some mischief. This is rubbish," the former captain, back in Mumbai, said later. With Agency Inputs

WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT MATCH

Sharjah, April 18, 1986

It was a final India should have won comfortably. They were in command till the final ball was delivered. A four was needed and those were the days when fours - forget sixes - were not easy to hit. But Javed Miandad dispatched it for a six to India's shock.
Brief scores: 245-7 (S Gavaskar 92, K Srikkanth 75, D Vengsarkar 50, Wasim Akram 3-42, Imran Khan 2-40) lost to Pakistan 248-9 (J Miandad 116 n.o., Moshin Khan 36, Abdul Qadir 34, Chetan Sharma 3-51, Madan Lal 2-53).

Poor Chetan Sharma. They say he did try for a yorker, but the ball slipped out of his hand. Or perhaps it was the fact that I was standing well forward of the batting crease that threw him off his length. Whatever the mysterious origins of that last delivery, it ended up being the perfect ball for me and for Pakistan - a full-toss at the right height, slightly towards leg, all I had to do was take a swing and it sailed out of the ground - Javed Miandad

None of us expected Javed to hit it out of the ground. And then we all felt a sort of blackout. It was like a funeral in the dressing room afterwards. Chetan Sharma was on the floor. None of us knew what to do for nearly an hour. Nobody looked at anyone; we all just sat with our chins down, thinking about the possibilities. We could hear the celebrations outside but it was extremely depressing i

India vs Australia: We don't want to wait for final ODI to clinch series, says Xavier Doherty

Nagpur:  Australia are extremely keen to wrap up the seven-game ODI series here on Wednesday itself by winning the penultimate match in Jamtha and take an unassailable lead, left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty said on Monday.

"We have come here to win this game and we're not worried too much about Bangalore (venue of last game on November 2). At the moment we are worried about winning this game and wrapping it up on Wednesday," said Doherty today after the team's training session.

Australia are 2-1 ahead in the rubber and India face a must-win situation here on October 30 to stay alive in the series.

"From our point of view this is the game we want to win. We don't want to save it for the last game on Sunday. We want to wrap up this game. Obviously from their (India's) point of view they need to win to stay alive and from that point, it is pretty crucial for them," said Doherty.

"We would rather be 3-1 up than 2-2 all. Both teams have played some very good cricket and it will be about who is better on Wednesday," he added.

While conceding that bowlers from both teams have found the going tough, especially with the new ODI rule on field restrictions, Doherty averred that it was better to grin and bear it.

"It's been pretty tough going for all bowlers. Conditions have been tough. It's been a rude challenge. Still having 20-20 cricket with five out and bringing them in. That's the way it is suck it up and move on personally I will rather have five fielders," he said.

"(But) from spectators point of view (there have been) more boundaries (hit), more runs scored. There have been 350-run chases and I am pretty sure we will have 400-run chases soon. No doubt that's the way cricket has been going.

"From my point of view, am trying to get my ten overs in as best as I can, build up pressure and get some wickets either from my end or at the other."

Personally from his experience in the Test series that Australia lost 0-4 earlier in the year, Doherty felt there would be some turn for the spinners.

"I expected some spinning wickets as we got in the Test series here. Probably the last game it rained (in Ranchi) or it might have been spinning a bit. Looks like this wicket will spin a bit and spinners will play a bit more of a role," he said.

Doherty said left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson, who took five wickets and bowled with a lot of fire, has been the stand-out bowler in the series.

"Mitch has been outstanding from both teams. On wickets with any sort of grass, he's a real weapon for us. From our point of view, he has been the bowler we go to get a wicket or restrict runs with his extra pace. I know a lot of runs have been scored but from our point of view, Mitch has been the man of the series," he said.

India has options but nobody will become a Tendulkar overnight, says Dravid

The year 2013 has posed to Indian cricket two huge questions. What after Dravid and what after Tendulkar? These are the sort of questions which demand definite answers but cannot be bound by any deadline. These kinds of questions were posed to Australian cricket a few years earlier and they are still searching for answers.

Indian cricket's biggest worry in the first half of the year was who after Dravid. Who would hold fort against the seaming ball, be ready to guts it out on bouncy tracks, be ready to smell the perfume ball when the openers have failed.

Cheteshwar Pujara may still be work in progress but he looks potentially the most capable to bat no. 3 for India for long. Dravid did it for 16 long years.

Towards the end of 2013 the newest question confronting Indian cricket is a bigger one. How would Indian cricket be 'post Tendulkar.' It's a much larger question because after the West Indies series Indian cricket will not just be searching for a new no. 4 but a batsman whose presence went way beyond the runs he scored.

At his prime Sachin Tendulkar was even intimidating for the opposing dressing room. Even when off top form, he would be a talking point in team meetings. Often, being out of form for him would be so under the weight of his own numbers. A good knock would change it all.

All his life Rahul Dravid played for India, Sachin was a team mate. We posed the same question to Dravid before the selectors start searching for answers.

"India has options. But we will have to give them time. Anybody won't become Tendulkar overnight. It took time to become Tendulkar," Dravid tells Headlines Today.

Someone will have to bat no.4 in South Africa late this year. Whether he will be as good is another story. The key lies, Dravid says in not looking for a Tendulkar. "We have good cricketers. We are seeing in one day cricket. Virat kohli and Rohit Sharma are there. I am not saying they are Tendulkars but they will get time to make their name," he assures.

Fully aware of the void Tendulkar's absence will leave behind, Dravid is not overly worried. He re-winds the clock back to 1987 to reassure that Indian cricket will cope.

"Life moves on. It's hard to imagine a team in Indian cricket without Tendulkar playing a part in it. Particularly test cricket. But the same was with Gavaskar at one stage.
Generations were used to seeing Gavaskar. It happens. New people come in and new heroes come in and people get inspired with someone like Sachin," he reminds of Gavaskar's retirement in 1987. Sachin had not started playing for India then.

Dravid's calm optimism of Indian cricket in the post-Tendulkar scenario does nothing to dilute his tribute to the legend he played with all his life for India.

"Statistically he will be the greatest cricketer ever-the amount of runs, amount of matches he has played," he says.

Dravid adds, "But my lasting memory of Sachin is the way he carried himself on and off the field. His greatest achievement is the way he handled the expectations of a billion people."

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-have-options-but-nobody-will-become-a-tendulkar-overnight-says-dravid/1/320666.html

Vettel wins title, now to win back the fans

Having clinched four successive Formula One titles with his Indian Grand Prix win Sunday, Sebastian Vettel’s next challenge will be to win back the admiration of the sport’s fans and something more than grudging respect from fellow drivers.

 Vettel can bask in the knowledge he has joined F1 greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as the only men to win four straight championships, but it has been far from a perfect year for the German, whose 2013 title procession was overshadowed by repeated booing from fans, anger from other drivers and teams at a perceived questioning of their professionalism, and his contemptuous flouting of team rules. F1 organisers too are doubtless less than thrilled at Vettel’s 2013 stroll — in which he claimed the title with a yawning three races to spare.

His dominance in 2013, akin to that of 2011, with the tighter 2010 and 2012 championships thrown in, was the most profound F1 had seen since the Schumacher era, which ushered in a series of increasingly contrived rule changes designed to inject some much-needed competitiveness and spice into the sport. Vettel is clearly a winner but do the fans love him? Reuters Vettel is clearly a winner but do the fans love him? Reuters Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, whose early-season title challenge faded, has said Vettel’s imperious season alienated all but the sport’s most committed fans.


“Personally I feel for the fans because I remember the period of time when Michael Schumacher was winning,” Hamilton said. “I remember waking up in the morning to watch the start of the race then going to sleep, and then waking up when it ended because I already knew what would happen. “I am pretty sure a lot of people are doing that today.” Vettel was asked about Hamilton’s comments in the lead-up to last weekend’s Japanese GP, and curiously described them as “a compliment” while pointing out his victories, while repetitive, were rarely as pronounced as those of Schumacher. “If you take Korea … the gap was something between three and six seconds for the whole race,” Vettel said. “If you look at ten years ago, it was more like thirty to sixty seconds, which is a big difference.


“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice cushion to have in the car, when you see that you’re three seconds down the road, but equally you know that if you make one stupid mistake … then three seconds is nothing compared to thirty or sixty.” The argument is valid, but overlooks two factors that explain why Vettel’s success has not translated into the same levels of unanimous acclaim that is accorded to the sport’s greats. Firstly, there is the standard manner of his wins. Vettel’s success is built on his supreme ability in qualifying — only once this season has he started lower than third — and astonishing early pace on fresh tires that sees him often get out to a comfortable lead early and then sustain that buffer to the end.

He has only rarely shown his ability to fight his way through the field — most notably in 2012 when he started from the pit lane in Abu Dhabi and finished third in what was a crucial result toward his ultimate championship — but fans respect that kind of wheel-to-wheel jousting more than outright speed. The other factor is that he has won all four titles with one team, raising the legitimate but unanswerable question about whether it is he or Adrian Newey’s car designs that deserve the credit for Red Bull’s success.

All but one of the drivers who have won three titles or more did so with more than one team: Fangio at Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari, Jack Brabham at Cooper and the eponymous Brabham team, Jackie Stewart at Matra and Tyrrell, Niki Lauda at Ferrari and McLaren, Nelson Piquet at Brabham and Williams, Alain Prost at McLaren and Williams, and Schumacher at Benetton and Ferrari. The exception was Ayrton Senna, who won all three of his titles with McLaren, but he had previously been an outstanding driver at Lotus and had switched to Williams when he died at the wheel in 1994.

 For the sake of his legacy, Vettel should and likely will change teams in the future, with strong speculation about a move to Ferrari in 2016. The questioning of Vettel’s legitimacy as a genuine F1 great have contributed to the disrespectful booing that greeted his recent podium appearances in Italy and Singapore, and at other races too, though not in India when he clinched his latest title. But while the German has sought to explain away the booing as coming from disgruntled Ferrari fans, the truth is that it stems more from the ill-judged flouting of team orders in Malaysia, and his subsequent defiance.

In Malaysia, teammate Mark Webber led the race in the closing stages, and with Vettel in second they were told to keep those positions while Webber’s engine was dialed down to preserve it for future races. In a triumph of adrenalin over good sense, Vettel defied the order and passed Webber to take the victory, ignoring the directions of team bosses and infuriating his teammate. What could have been put down to a win-at-all-costs determination soon revealed itself to be something much less forgivable as Vettel, days later, showed a total absence of contrition, saying Webber deserved no consideration, that he would do it again in the same circumstances, and gloated that the team was powerless to do anything about it.

 Such a display of arrogance cast Vettel in a new light in the eyes of F1 fans. The man who usually showed a good-humored and affable demeanor, and who is always quick to credit the team for his success, had either let the mask slip or had adopted an unbecoming ruthlessness. That side of Vettel showed itself later in the year when he was asked why Red Bull was so far ahead of the rest, and he responded that it was down to the fact that they were still working hard at the race paddock while other teams and drivers were “hanging … in the pool.” It may have been a forgivable off-hand reply, but it enraged many rivals, with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg publicly admonishing his German compatriot. “He should really think harder about what he says, especially when it’s about his colleagues,” Rosberg said at the time.

“His criticism was directed at all of us, and so also at my boys. It was incorrect.” McLaren’s Jenson Button, the 2009 champion, said such hubris can easily overwhelm a driver when he is on top. “The problem is that when you’re ahead, winning races and championships, you’re thinking differently, but it always comes to an end,” Button said. However, all the booing and the griping from his rivals will not remove the satisfied smile from Vettel’s face, and instead it will be the words of his vanquished Ferrari rival Fernando Alonso that will resonate. “When I was world champion, the fans booed me,” Alonso said. “When I wasn’t winning anymore, I was suddenly popular. But I’d rather win than be loved.”

Scriptwriter takes Krrish 3 to court for rights violation

A nondescript scriptwriter from Madhya Pradesh, Uday Singh Rajput, has dragged the makers of Bollywood film Krrish 3 to the Bombay high court over copyright violation. Rajput claims that he wrote the script for the movie but wasn’t given credit for it. The makers of the film have also moved the court asking that Rajput’s plea be not entertained and the release of the film not be disturbed.

Judge SJ Kathawala will be hearing both petitions today (Tuesday) and will then pass an order on the matter. Rajput said in his plea that he had registered his script with the Film Writers Association in 2008 under the title Krrish 2. He later sent a copy to Rakesh Roshan for consideration, but got no response from him.

He claims a few days ago he realised his script had been used by Roshan to make Krrish 3, and the credit was given to one Robin Bhatt.

Advocate Rekha Mehta, appearing for Rajput, said, “We wrote to Roshan and demanded he give us due credit, but there was no positive response from their side. Thus we moved the high court seeking a compensation of Rs2 crore and as interim relief, sought an injunction on the release of the film, scheduled to be released on November 1.”

The suit filed by Roshan’s company, Film Kraft Productions Limited, has moved the court, asking that the release of the film not be interrupted.

Salman Khan explains his outburst on Bigg Boss 7

Salman slammed Kushal for being rude to housemate Tanisha and his attempt to escape the reality show house over a fight during a task this weekend.

Salman Khan


Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has taken to Twitter to explain his outburst against 'Bigg Boss 7' contestant Kushal Tandon.

Salman slammed Kushal for being rude to housemate Tanisha and his attempt to escape the reality show house over a fight during a task this weekend.

But, many of Salman's fans believed that the actor was a bit "unfair" on Kushal by taking Tanisha's side.

However, Salman, who had claimed that Kushal's action may force him to not return as Bigg Boss host next season, said his anger was genuine.

"You see one hour, I see the whole deal. Guess some of you guys may not react when someone speaks to your family's female members or women in that manner. But I do and most of us men and women stand up against men who run them down," Salman tweeted.

The 47-year-old actor said he decided to reply after seeing comments by 'Bigg Boss' followers.

"I am only answering your question about Bigg Boss because you are following me. This is a game. It's on TV so I like to keep a check on it."

He also explained why he did not say anything to Armaan or Andy for the fights they get into.

"According to what you saw on TV, both should have been out but there was a lot more to the fight than what you saw. There can only be that much put on TV," he added.

Many of Salman's followers said that the actor was 'unfair' to Kushal after his special 'Weekend Ka Wow' episode on Saturday.

"What most disgusting is how Salman Khan entirely supports Tanisha and her ways and then talk about being fair. How so Mr Khan? UnfairSalman," a fan wrote

"Ok, you are from a respected family, Tanisha. But UnfairSalman biased-ness is so not done! We love Kushal and Gauhar," fan Alok Trivedi tweeted.

Mickey Virus earns Rs 4.75 crore in opening weekend

Television host Manish Paul and Bigg Boss 7 contestant Elli Avram's film Mickey Virus has got a decent response at the box office.

Apart from Mickey Virus, three more low budget film Bull Bulbul Bandook, Ishk Actually and Super Se Upar were also released. Of them, Mickey Virus has got decent response, while the rest exhausted within their opening weekend.


Mickey Virus mega review
The film collected Rs.4.75 crore in its opening weekend. Rs.1.35 crore on Friday, Rs.1.60 crore on Saturday and Rs.1.80 crore on Sunday.

Though Manish Paul is quite popular and Ellie has also became a household name due to Bigg Boss 7, this hasn't helped the film much at the ticket windows. And with Krrish 3 releasing on November 1, Mickey Virus will have a tough time at the box office.

XLRI beats economic slowdown, placement hits 100% for summer interns in record time

Despite slowdown, country's premier B-School XLRI here has managed to find well-paid summer internship opportunities in April-May 2014 for its largest first-year batch of 303 students in a record time of 3.5 days. The recruitment drive saw 105 companies make 336 offers to the batch.

XLRI director Father E Abraham said, "This is an affirmation of the all-round integral formation we strive to impart that even during an economic slowdown, our students are much sought after by firms across industry sectors."

The top 5 recruiters, in terms of number of offers made at XLRI, were Vodafone, Microsoft, ITC, TAS and Standard Chartered, with the highest stipend offered being Rs 3 lakh for the internship period.

While XLRI maintained its stronghold as a human resources and marketing talent destination, it witnessed a steep 33% rise in the number of offers made in the finance domain.

Professor Rajiv Mishra, chairperson, placement, XLRI, said, "The meteoric increase (of almost 50%) in the number of recruiters... Stands testimony to the sustained faith shown by the industry in the much sought-after management professional talent at XLRI."

The B-School saw a third of its batch of 184 business management students receive offers from the finance domain.

While PE Carlyle Group continues to recruit summer interns exclusively from XLRI, a European hedge fund, a Singapore-based venture capital firm and the World Bank recruited for the first time.

Goldman Sachs was the largest finance recruiter followed by Standard Chartered Bank. Similarly, the FMCG sector saw 40% of its students land up offers with companies like Unilever, P&G, ITC, Reckitt Benckiser, Kraft Cadbury, Asian Paints, GSK-CH, Coca Cola, Colgate Palmolive, etc.

The healthcare sector was strongly represented by majors like Novartis, Roche, Dr Reddy's, GSK Pharma, etc.

The consulting domain too saw The Boston Consulting Group, KPMG, Cognizant Business Consulting, Deloitte, etc, participate. Technology and e-commerce also saw some key recruiters likeAmazon.com, Flipkart, Microsoft, Cisco offering roles in programme management and HR.

Sahara asked to submit title deeds to Sebi

Apex court says the Roy-led group 'indulges too much in hide-and-seek'.



The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Sahara group to hand over title deeds of property worth Rs20,000 crore to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) within three weeks.

The direction came in a contempt petition filed by Sebi against Subroto Roy (pictured), the promoter of Sahara India Real Estate and Sahara Housing Investment Corp which had raised around Rs24,000 crore through optionally fully convertible debentures in violation of public issue norms. The larger context pertains to the firms’ repayment defaults that hurt thousands of investors.

A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar directed Sahara to get the valuation report done by an approved valuer of the properties before submitting it.

The court that had initially proposed restricting movement of contemnors outside India until such time the original documents were submitted to Sebi. However, after assurances from Sahara counsel C A Sundaram, the court settled for a milder direction which will come into play only if the group fails to submit the documents.

“You indulge too much in hide-and-seek, we cannot trust you any more,” Justice J S Khehar told Sahara while directing it to hand over a valuation report of its properties.

The court has told the group that if the title deeds are not handed over in three weeks, then Sahara chief Subrata Roy and other directors will not be allowed to leave the country without its permission.

“There is no escape and the money has to be paid,” the bench told Sahara.

Sahara has to give the property documents to Sebi by November 11 and the Supreme Court will take up the case on November 20. The Supreme Court had earlier asked Sahara and Sebi to find a mechanism for the group to refund around Rs19,000 crore to investors.

Counsel for Sahara suggested an alternative method of a bank trustee arrangement and produced a letter from PNB Investment Services, a subsidiary of Punjab National Bank, which had offered its services to take into possession title deeds worth Rs20,000 crore and liquidate and produce money on directions of the Supreme Court, as and when required.

However, Sebi counsel Arvind Datar was completely against the proposal to take any payment other than cash and submitted: “You played with fire, you can’t complain of burnt fingers. You have taken money from investors. You said your properties are worth Rs71,000 crore. All I am saying is sell one-third of that property and pay the money.”

Maruti Suzuki shares jump 6% on strong Q2, top Rs. 1,600

Shares in Maruti Suzuki rose as much as 5.7 per cent on Tuesday after India's largest car maker said July-September net profit tripled from a year earlier. The better-than-expected numbers was driven by costs cuts and higher localisation, Maruti said.

Maruti shares traded 4.5 per cent higher at Rs. 1,581.55 on the NSE as of 09.31 a.m. after earlier hitting a high of Rs. 1,599. The stock was the top Nifty gainer and outperformed the broader benchmark, which dipped after a positive start. Maruti shares have risen 1.6 per cent so far this year, compared with a 6 per cent gain in the main index. (Track stock)

CLSA upgraded Maruti shares to "buy" from "outperform" post earnings announcement. The brokerage also upgraded its target price on the stock to Rs. 2,000 from Rs. 1,450 earlier.

Credit Suisse raised its target price on Maruti shares to Rs. 1,760, while retaining its "outperform" call.

Net profit in the July-September quarter was Rs. 670 crore compared with Rs. 227 crore a year earlier when a riot at its Manesar factory led to one death, over 100 injuries, a month-long shutdown and a $250 million production loss. The mean estimate of 12 analysts according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S was Rs. 552 crore. (Read earnings copy)

Revenue rose 27 per cent to Rs. 10,212 crore. Operating margin rose to 12.6 per cent from 11.4 per cent in the previous quarter, calculated on total operating income, helped by a positive foreign exchange impact, despite Maruti being forced to offer discounts to push sales.

However, Macquarie retained it "neutral" call on Maruti (target price Rs. 1,560) citing unsustainable margins.

Apollo Hospitals in Rs 550 cr deal with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

The promoters of Apollo Hospitals have entered into a complicated Rs 550 crore deal with global investment managers Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). While it does not infuse new funds into Apollo Hospitals, it will help PCR Investment Ltd, the family holding company of the Apollo promoters reduce its debt from Rs 700 crore to Rs 150 crore.

PCR Investment Ltd, which currently holds 18.42 per cent stake in Apollo Hospitals (valued at Rs 2300 crore), has taken on a structured debt from KKR, according to a spokesperson of the company. The advantage for KKR is that it can convert this into equity if it chooses to and get around four per cent stake in Apollo Hospitals after five years. It also has the option of instead of a cash transaction with the promoters in lieu of the stake.

The Reddy promoter family of Apollo Hospitals holds a total around 35 per cent in the company, of which 18.42 per cent is held by PCR Investments and the rest by individual family members.

The key benefit for the Apollo family promoters is that not only do it get to reduce the debt but also does this relatively cheaply. This instrument carries a redemption premium with a floor of 7.25 per cent, which, according to the PCR spokesperson, makes it much cheaper than repaying a normal debt where almost a double interest outflow would have resulted. Plus, PCR Investments gets a window of five years to plan other investments since the burden of servicing the debt would be reduced substantially.

Fresh violence erupts across crisis-hit Bangladesh

Dhaka — Fresh violence erupted across Bangladesh on Monday, leaving at least four people dead as rival party activists clashed on the second day of a strike amid a mounting political crisis.

Police said street battles broke out throughout Bangladesh between thousands of supporters of the ruling party and the opposition, which is demanding the prime minister quit and make way for elections under a caretaker government.

A bomb blast in the western Harina Kundu town killed a local opposition official, while elsewhere two activists were killed in separate clashes and a truck driver died after being pelted with bricks, police said.

"Apparently the bomb was hurled, targeting him (the local official). He died on his way to the hospital," local police chief Mohibul Islam told AFP.

At least 16 people in total have now died in the unrest that has escalated since Friday, when the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies staged mass rallies over arrangements for the elections.

Television footage on Monday showed protesters barricading highways, exploding crude bombs and attacking political party offices in dozens of towns, with police responding in some cases with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Last-minute talks on Saturday between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her bitter rival, BNP leader Khaleda Zia, failed to halt the three-day strike and defuse the crisis over the polls set for January 2014.

Hasina's appeal to call off the strike occurred during a 40-minute phone conversation -- believed to be the first time in at least a decade that the two "battling begums" have spoken.

"Begum" is an honorific for a Muslim woman of rank.

Zia, who has twice served as premier, has since Friday branded the government "illegal", citing a legal provision that requires a neutral government to be set up three months before elections.

Hasina said such an arrangement is unconstitutional, proposing instead an all-party interim government led by her to oversee the January polls. But the BNP rejected the proposal, claiming it would allow Hasina to rig results.

Bangladesh has been ruled alternately by Hasina and Zia since 1991, although a military-backed government headed the country between 2007 and 2008.

Thousands of police on the streets

Schools, shops and other businesses remained closed on Monday in towns and cities for the strike, which started on Sunday, while thousands of extra police and paramilitary officers have been deployed on the streets, police said.

In the western district of Joypurhat, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas during clashes between some 3,000 activists from the BNP and the ruling Awami League, a police official told AFP.

Police said BNP activists hacked a ruling party supporter to death with machetes in a northern town, while the truck driver died after he was hit by bricks from protesters in the southeastern coastal town of Satkania.

A BNP supporter was also killed during clashes with ruling party supporters in the central district of Chandpur, local police chief Amir Jafar told AFP.

BNP deputy chief Fakhrul Islam Alamgir accused police of opening fire on the party's supporters during Monday's protests, inflaming tensions. He also said the opposition was ready for "talks and compromise" on the issue of who would oversee the upcoming elections.

Private station Independent TV said at least 200 people were injured in clashes with police on Monday, bringing the number of injured in two days of strike to over 500.

The last time the two main parties fought street battles was in late 2006, when dozens were killed, causing the country to shut down for weeks before the army stepped in to cancel elections and set up a military-backed caretaker government.

While the nation has a long history of political violence, this year has been the deadliest since Bangladesh gained independence in 1971.

At least 150 people have been killed since January after a controversial court began handing down death sentences on Islamist leaders allied to ex-premier Zia.

St Jude's storm whips across northern Europe

The St Jude's storm that battered southern Britain on Monday morning has hit northern Europe.
In Germany, two people died when their car was crushed by a falling tree, and in Brittany, western France, a woman was swept out to sea.

One woman was killed by a falling tree in Amsterdam, while motorways across Belgium have been left closed.
Footage from around Europe shows the impact of the storm, including on pedestrians.

Soldier killed as Pakistan troops resume shelling on LoC

After a brief lull, tension gripped the borders again on Monday when a junior commissioned officer (JCO)of the Indian Army was killed in the Pakistani firing on the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

The incident occurred a few days after the guns fell silent on the 200km International Border in Jammu division bringing much- needed relief to the people living on the border.

Naresh Vij, defence spokesman at Srinagar, told dna that the area domination petrol of the army was attacked on the LoC in Uri sector on Sunday night in which one Subedar was killed. “There was a firing on our patrol at 12.15am. One JCO was martyred in the incident,” he said.

The slain officer has been identified as Subedar Prakash Chander of 8 Kumoan regiment.

Chander hails from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. Sources said the killing was carried out by the Pakistani troops in an attempt to vitiate the atmosphere on the LoC in the Valley. Officially, however, the Indian Army is reluctant to call it a ceasefire violation apparently to avoid any controversy after the Keran fiasco.

Four injured in bomb blast in Imphal

  

IMPHAL: Four persons were today injured when militants exploded a powerful bomb in a market complex here, police said.

The bomb exploded near Bheirodan School in Khwairamband market complex, about one km away from the official residence of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh at around 6 AM injuring four persons.

The bomb was an improvised explosive device, but it was not immediately known whether it was planted or hurled at the market complex, police said.

Further details are awaited.

Kudankulam N-plant generates 20 percent of capacity

Chennai: The first unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) on Monday fed the southern power grid with 20 percent of its rated capacity at an average, stated a report on Tuesday.

The 1,000 MW unit, which was resynchronised with the grid on October 25 night generated 200 MW power at an average on October 28, up from 188 MW generated on October 27, according to a Power System Operation Corporation Ltd report.

Power System Operation Corporation operates the power grids - regional and national - and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.


On October 22, the 1,000 MW capacity KNPP unit was synchronised for the first time with the power grid at 2.45 am, and generated 75 MW of power.

The power generation was subsequently increased to 160 MW and nearly two hours later, the unit tripped due to reverse power.

On October 25 at 9.43 pm, the unit was reconnected to the grid and generated around 160 MW.

The power (infirm power) generated by KNPP's first unit will be supplied to Tamil Nadu as the unit has not started commercial generation.

Only when the unit is declared as commercially operational then the power generated will be shared with other southern states, officials added.

India's atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has been setting up two 1,000 MW Russian reactors at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here. The total outlay for the project is over Rs 17,000 crore.

KNPP is India's first pressurised water reactor belonging to the light water reactor category.

The first unit attained criticality July 2013, which is the beginning of the fission process.

In August, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board gave its nod to KNPP to raise the reactor power levels to 50 percent and for synchronisation of the unit with the power grid.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd earlier said it would connect the first unit to the grid end-August, generating 400 MW power.

But that did not happen due to issues with the equipments the sorting of which and the testing took time.

According to NPCIL officials, the power out at the first unit of KNPP will be increased gradually and by December this year the unit is expected to touch its rated capacity of 1,000 MW.

Cong to tweet Rahul's rally videos in real time for wider reach

In a first ever such move, Congress would be tweeting parts of the speech and uploading the video snippets on social networking sites in real time when party vice-president Rahul Gandhi addresses two rallies in Uttar Pradesh on October 30.


A special IT team from Delhi, temporary wifi-network, computers, laptops and a media-centre would all be part of Rahul Gandhi’s rallies that would take place in Raath area in Hamirpur district of Bundelkhand region and Salempur under Deoria district in eastern UP.
Even social media teams, which have been created in past few months after several rounds of training by experts, would be camping at the rally venues to upload the key points of Rahul Gandhi’s speech on to social networking sites.

“While parts of the speech would be tweeted immediately, videos would be shared on social networking sites. Since, both the rallies have been planned on school ground, we are planning to create the infrastructure in one room each for the time being. Final decision would be taken after teams arrive from Delhi,” a party leader looking after the preparation work for the rallies told The Indian Express.

An expert team is likely to reach rally grounds Monday with required infrastructure. In the past, rallies of both Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi in the state have been a simple affair with hardly any facilities on the rally ground apart from the barricading and a covered dais.

PM, Narendra Modi to share stage for tribute to Sardar Patel

Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi will share the stage in Ahmedabad in Gujarat today at a function to commemorate Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

As the two leaders come together for the launch of a museum dedicated to India's first home minister, many expect them to deliver politically-charged messages ahead of state polls and the national election due by May.

The event comes in the middle of a blame-game over the serial blasts targeting Mr Modi's rally in Patna on Sunday, which the BJP has blamed on lax security by the state's Nitish Kumar government and the Centre.

Hours before the function, the battle for the legacy of India's "iron man" surfaced once again.

In tweets this morning, Congress leader Manish Tewari talked about Sardar Patel's criticism of MS Golwalkar, an icon of the BJP's mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, in connection with the 1948 assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

"9/11/1948. Patel to Golwalkar As a final result of (communal) poison, country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji," Mr Tewari tweeted.

"Patel refers to Communal poison spread by RSS that Golwalkar headed. Does Syamsevak Modi agree with Patel on RSS? Whose Legacy they crave!"

The Congress accuses the BJP of trying to appropriate the legacy of Sardar Patel.

Mr Tewari's comments were an indication that today's function in Ahmedabad this evening could see the Dr Manmohan Singh highlight Sardar Patel's fight against communalism. He had recently said, "I sincerely hope all secular forces will combine to face the onslaught of people like Narendra Modi."

Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for 2014, has invited leaders from various parties including the Congress on Thursday, for the launch of a project to build a Sardar Patel statue, claimed to be the world's tallest.

India 10-Year Bond Yield Climbs to 3-Week High Before RBI Review

India’s 10-year government bonds dropped, pushing the yield to a three-week high, as economists forecast the central bank will boost borrowing costs for the second time in two months to rein in inflation.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan will raise the benchmark repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent today, according to 32 of 42 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Nine predict no change and one a 50 basis point increase. Monetary policy must tackle elevated inflation even as growth remains “tepid,” the RBI wrote in a report released after trading hours yesterday.

The yield on the 7.16 percent notes due May 2023 climbed two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 8.68 percent as of 9:26 a.m. in Mumbai, the highest level since Oct. 7, prices from the central bank’s trading system show. It jumped eight basis points yesterday.

The RBI’s “commentary affirmed that price stability and the need to anchor inflation expectations remain the cornerstones for the policy decision,” DBS Bank Ltd.’s Singapore-based economist Radhika Rao wrote in a research note. “This affirms expectations that the benchmark repo rate will be raised today.”
Swaps Rise

Wholesale prices rose 6.46 percent in September, the most in seven months, while consumer-price gains quickened to 9.84 percent, official data showed this month.

Rajan, who increased the repo rate by 25 basis points on Sept. 20, has said containing inflation is his top priority. Wholesale prices are still above the comfort level and the persistence of high consumer-price inflation remains a concern, the RBI said yesterday.

Increased price pressures will prompt the RBI to raise the benchmark rate by 50 basis points this month, Taimur Baig, Singapore-based director of Asia economics at Deutsche Bank AG, which took part in the survey, wrote in an Oct. 16 report.

The one-year interest-rate swap, a derivative contract used to guard against fluctuations in funding costs, jumped four basis points to 8.48 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Tehseen Akhtar may have planted the bomb at Gandhi Maidan: sources

Patna: Indian Mujahideen operative Tehseen Akhtar has emerged as the main suspect in Sunday's Patna serial blasts. Sources have now told CNN-IBN that it may be possible that Tehseen placed the bomb at Gandhi Maidan himself. CNN-IBN has also learned that three other bombers have been identified as Hyder, Noman and Taufiq along with the fourth suspect who died while planting one of the bombs.

The investigation reveals similarities between the Patna and the July's blasts in Bodh Gaya and police suspect Hyder could be the man whose sketch was released after the Gaya blasts. ALSO SEE Patna blasts: 2nd suspect in custody; Shinde not to visit the city today In both cases, sources say the timer devices were used were also made by a company called Lotus. Tehseen Akhtar may have planted the bomb at Gandhi Maidan: sources CNN-IBN has also learned that three other bombers have been identified as Hyder, Noman and Taufiq.

The police are conducting searches in North Bihar and Jhakhand. A second suspect, Mohammed Imtiaz, was produced in court on Tuesday night and has been sent to seven days of police remand. The Bihar Police has also claimed that one of the suspects in custody has confessed to his involvement in the blasts that left six dead and over 50 injured.

Shinde has a life beyond Patna: Salman Khurshid defends Home Minister's presence at Bollywood event

New Delhi: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, criticised by the BJP for attending a Bollywood event hours after multiple blasts killed six people in Patna on Sunday, has found support from External Affairs Minister and fellow Congressman Salman Khurshid.

Mr Khurshid has argued that "Mr Shinde has a life beyond Patna."

The minister has in turn accused the BJP of "playing politics" and asked why the party went ahead with Narendra Modi's rally despite the multiple blasts. "You criticise Mr Shinde for carrying on with his life as usual. Mr Modi went on with his speech? Not a word about the people who died, not a word about what had happened? Because it was not in the script or was it in the script that we hadn't seen?" (Why Narendra Modi went ahead with Patna rally despite blasts)

On Sunday morning, seven low-intensity blasts ripped through Patna just before Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, addressed a massive rally. Most of those explosions were in and around Gandhi Maidan, the rally venue.

That evening, Mr Shinde, who has charge of the country's law and order, spent nearly an hour at the music launch of Bollywood film Rajjo, posing for photographs with actors. The film's director, Vishwas Patil, is a former IAS officer from Maharashtra and said to be close to the Home Minister. (Home Minister Shinde at Bollywood event after Patna blasts, BJP asks why)

The BJP's Arun Jaitley said, "I think it was indifference and if you have that attitude then any terrorist strike is an act of business as usual."

His colleague Venkaiah Naidu offered, "There is nothing wrong with going for a music performance launch etc at any other time. But here there were blasts. One would have expected the Home Minister to go there."

Mr Shinde justified not changing his plans because of the blasts, saying he had immediately sent crack investigating teams to the spot and was in regular touch with officials.

"Since the bomb blast at 9.30 am, I have been getting updates about the situation. I have spoken to the Chief Minister of Bihar a few times. In the afternoon itself I sent an NIA (National Investigation Agency) team and a bomb inquiry squad to Patna by plane," he told reporters.

In May this year, Mr Shinde was criticised for not cutting short a visit to the US when top Congress leaders were killed in a brazen attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh.

Shiv Sena: Rahul Gandhi's ISI remark laughable but true

Though Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is facing flak for his statement that Pakistani secret agency ISI was in touch with victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots, he has received support from unexpected quarters — the Shiv Sena.


On Monday, Sena mouthpiece Saamna, which is edited by party president Uddhav Thackeray, said Rahul, whose statements were mostly “laughable”, had “unknowingly spoken the truth”.

“There is no need to be shocked about the truth the Yuvaraj has spoken about the fundamentalist Muslims in the country,” said an editorial in the newspaper, adding that, earlier, Hindutva leaders like the late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had also pointed to ISI activities in India.

The editorial said that the ISI’s involvement was seen in every communal riot and terrorist activity in India and that it was also involved in turning Muslim youth into fundamentalists and using them for anti-national activities.

It pointed to examples such as the Memon brothers and their involvement in the Mumbai bomb blasts and added that terrorists Abdul Karim Tunda and Yasin Bhatkal were ISI affiliates.

“The ISI’s agents here undertake more machinations than fake secularists like the Congress and the SP (Samajwadi Party) to ensure that Muslims do not join the mainstream in the country,” the editorial said, adding that the ISI wanted another partition of India on religious grounds.

It rued that political strategies hinged on ensuring that Muslims became more fundamentalist and insecure.

Editorspeak
An editorial in Saamna, which is edited by party president Uddhav Thackeray, said that the ISI’s involvement was seen in every communal riot and terrorist activity in India.

Google serves users from 700 p.c. more locations: Study

Google search has expanded its network, serving its users from 700 per cent more locations than a year ago, a new study, including an Indian-origin scientist, has found.

Over the past 10 months, Google search has dramatically increased the number of sites around the world from which it serves client queries, repurposing existing infrastructure to change the physical way that Google processes web searches, according to researchers from University of Southern California (USC).

From October 2012 to late July 2013, the number of locations serving Google’s search infrastructure increased from a little less than 200 to a little more than 1,400, and the number of ISPs grew from just over 100 to more than 850, according to the study.

Most of this expansion reflects Google utilising client networks that it already relied on for hosting content like videos on YouTube, and reusing them to relay -- and speed up -- user requests and responses for search and ads, researchers said.

“Google already delivered YouTube videos from within these client networks,” said Matt Calder, lead author of the study.

“But they’ve abruptly expanded the way they use the networks, turning their content-hosting infrastructure into a search infrastructure as well,” said Calder.

Previously, if you submitted a search request to Google, your request would go directly to a Google data centre.

Now, your search request will first go to the regional network, which relays it to the Google data center. While this might seem like it would make the search take longer by adding in another step, the process actually speeds up searches.

Data connections typically need to “warm up” to get to their top speed -- the continuous connection between the client network and the Google data center eliminates some of that warming up lag time.

In addition, content is split up into tiny packets to be sent over the Internet -- and some of the delay that users may experience is due to the occasional loss of some of those packets, researchers said.

By designating the client network as a middleman, lost packets can be spotted and replaced much more quickly.

Calder worked with Ramesh Govindan and Ethan Katz-Bassett of USC Viterbi, as well as John Heidemann, Xun Fan, and Zi Hu of USC Vierbi’s Information Sciences Institute.

The team developed a new method of tracking down and mapping servers, identifying both when they are in the same data centre and estimating where that data centre is.

They also identify the relationships between servers and clients.

More: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/google-serves-users-from-700-pc-more-locations-study/article5278123.ece

At 71, Amitabh Bachchan hits the gym everyday

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan does not associate himself with lethargy and the exhaustion that comes with age. He still makes it a point to workout at the gym every day.

In a post on his blog Sunday, Big B talked about the struggle behind him going to the gym and how he tries not to miss it.

"Despite the pain, despite the inconsistency, despite the 'aalasya' - the lethargy of human, despite all else... the push to gym, come what may," Bachchan posted late on Sunday night.

"Bear it, struggle with it, allow it to tear into the body, scream out the music with effort... and conclude with that something satisfaction of fighting an oddity," the 71-year-old added.

The pain and the struggle of going to the gym motivates him to go back the next day as well.

"Be that as it may, the following day there shall be effort again. Stubbornness ... yes! At least in some respects, but the ultimate gain shall remain - of having continued even when there was no evidence of any prescribed continuity," he said.

On the work front, Bachchan is currently hosting the seventh season of quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati.

More: http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/at-71-amitabh-bachchan-hits-the-gym-everyday-438450

Attack on Chandy: CPI(M) workers held, blame game on

A day after Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was injured in stone pelting allegedly by LDF workers in Kannur, police on Monday booked 17 CPI(M) activists for attempt to murder as the ruling and the opposition engaged in blame game over the incident.

Chandy, who arrived in the state capital in the wee hours, is undergoing treatment at the Medical College hospital for the forehead injury and swelling on the chest, hit by a stone during the incident in Kannur.

Doctors attending on 70-year-old Chandy said his condition was stable but advised complete rest for three days compelling him to cancel all engagements, including the mass contact programme at Kollam on Tuesday.

In overnight search, police rounded up 22 CPI(M) workers from different parts of Kannur and arrested 17 of them, who were remanded.

They had been charged with IPC 307 (attempt to murder),324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and other sections including unlawful assembly.

The police also registered cases against a large number of CPI(M) leaders, including MLAs from the district K K Naryanan and C Krishnan.

State Home Minister Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan said the incident during a LDF protest was a "planned attack" and wanted the CPI(M) to leadership to call off their agitation over the solar scam.

"What happened yesterday was a planned attack as the LDF volunteers have been blocking the Chief Minister's engagement across the state for the last five months, the Minister told reporters.

CPI(M) state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan vehemently denied involvement of LDF workers in the attack and dared the government to conduct a thorough investigation to track down the real culprits instead of haunting the CPI(M) activists.

Chandy had a steady stream of visitors including Governor Nikhil Kumar, CPI(M) stalwart and opposition leader V S Achuthanandan and ministers and Congress leaders.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Chandy over phone and enquired about his health, official sources said.

The ongoing campaign by CPI(M)-led LDF over solar panel scam turned violent last evening as protesters allegedly pelted stones at Chandy at Kannur, where he had gone to attend a couple of engagements including the valedictory of the state police athletic meet.

In view of the incident,the state government has proposed to provide "Z" category security to Chandy.

Squarely blaming the CPI(M) for the attack on Chandy, KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala said it showed the party was resorting to violent means as their campaigns failed to receive people's support.

The contention of Pinarayi Vijayan was not going to be taken seriously by the people as it was only a face-saving excuse, Chennithala told reporters.

"The CPI(M) cannot absolve itself from the incident. What has happened has shamed Kerala as an elected chief minister had been premeditatedly targetted," he said.

The Congress also organised protest meetings across the state in the evening over the incident.

The district leaders of the LDF in Kannur alleged the stone-pelting was the handiwork of a hired goons brought engaged by some Congress leaders to malign the LDF.

More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/attack-on-chandy-cpi(m)-workers-held-blame-game-on/1188253/0

Delhi Police arrests Yasin Bhatkal, his aide in illegal arms factory case

Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his close aide were Monday sent to custody of Delhi Police for 15 days after a court here allowed the plea of the probe agency to arrest them in a case lodged in 2011 for allegedly setting up an illegal arms factory.

District Judge I S Mehta allowed the Delhi Police Special Cell to arrest Yasin Bhatkal and his aide Asadullah Akhtar after they were produced before it by National Investigation Agency, Hyderabad which said the accused are not required for custodial interrogation.

The district judge asked special cell sleuths to produce Bhatkal and Akhtar before the designated court for trying the cases being probed by the special cell of Delhi Police for seeking their custody.

The accused were then produced before Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash who remanded both the accused to police custody for 15 days till November 12.

Advocate M S Khan, appearing for the two, however, opposed the police custody plea, saying the accused have already been investigated by the NIA and the special cell has no locus standi to seek their fresh custody.

Bhatkal and Akhtar was earlier taken to Hyderabad after being arrested on September 21 and September 17 respectively by NIA's Hyderabad unit in connection with the Dilsukhnagar blast case that claimed 16 lives.

The blasts were triggered by IEDs planted near Konark and Venkatadiri theatres on February 21 this year.

The court had earlier issued NBWs against Bhatkal and Akhtar in the illegal arms factory case, in which the special cell had already arrested 16 alleged IM men, as they were absconding since then.

The special cell had in November 2011, busted an illegal arms factory located in Meer Vihar area of Nangloi in Outer Delhi and several alleged IM suspects were arrested.

An FIR was registered against Bhatkal in the case on November 22, 2011 and later a non-bailable warrant was also issued against him for setting up the factory.


Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/patna-blasts-yasin-bhatkal-indian-mujahideen-nia-asadullah-akhtar/1/320604.html

Leaves pic on buses: DMK wants EC to derecognise AIADMK

An issue over the painting of pictures of leaves on the newly launched small buses rocked Tamil Nadu Assembly today with DMKalleging it represented the ruling AIADMK's symbol, a charge rejected by the government.

The issue was raised outside the Assembly too with the DMK's legal wing serving notices to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and others besides petitioning the Election Commission (EC) seeking to derecognise AIADMK for allegedly violating model code of conduct in force for the December 4 Yercaud Assembly bypoll.

The DMK has also sent the complaints to the Comptroller and Auditor General and the state's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption demanding action for alleged misuse of public funds to further the poll prospects of the ruling party.

In the Assembly, DMK members sought to raise the issue and some remarks of Municipal Administration Minister K P Munusamy against DMK member E V Velu, a former AIADMK man, led to vociferous exchange of words between the two sides.

Speaker P Dhanapal ordered that none of the remarks made by DMK members will go on record, even as opposition MLAs were up on their feet seeking permission to raise the issue.

Suddenly, DMK members S S Sivasankaran, Soundarapandian and Dravida Mani rushed towards the Speaker's podium and squatted before the chair.

With his repeated pleas to return to their seats going unheeded, Dhanapal ordered the trio's eviction from the House.

Later, Transport minister K T Senthil Balaji denied DMK's contention that the leaves symbol on the small buses were representative of ruling AIADMK's symbol, the "Two Leaves".

Leaves were printed on the sides of the buses to promote the concept of greenery, he said and accused the DMK of making an issue as they were unable to accept the popularity of the AIADMK Government's initiative.

DMK legal wing's notice was also sent to the state Transport minister, Chief Secretary Sheela Balaakrishnan and Managing Director of Metropolitan Transport Corporation among others.

The complaint stated that the AIADMK with calculative and scientific motive has painted its "Two Leaves" symbol on 50 mini-buss launched on October 23 and also on some 610 buses.

More: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/leaves-pic-on-buses-dmk-wants-ec-to-derecognise-aiadmk-113102800698_1.html

Samsung launches dual screen flip phone for Rs. 51,900

Korean electronics major Samsung today launched a golden coloured dual screen flip smartphone under its Galaxy series for Rs. 51,900. The phone is equipped with two 3.7 inch screens. "While the outer screen enables the users to make and receive calls, flipping the phone open brings

up the inner screen and a large 3x4 keypad with big and bold keys to help users operate the phone with greater ease," the company said in a statement.

The company said the design is aimed at making the phone easy to use and operate.

The phone also comes with a 'hidden receiver' that allows users to take calls without opening the folder and provides high quality sound in noisy areas.

The device is powered by 1.7GHz dual-core processor, has 1.5 GB RAM and is based on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system.

It has 8 mega pixel rear and 1.9-mega pixel front camera and comes with 16 GB internal memory.

"With its innovative dual display and premium golden finish, Galaxy Golden brings together the best of touch and type experience on a smartphone," Samsung Mobiles and IT Country Head Vineet Taneja said.

More: http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/gadgets-updates/samsung-launches-dual-screen-flip-phone-for-rs-51-900/article1-1144054.aspx

SC rejects petition against Robert Vadra, says don’t use PIL to target one person

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by the CBI against Indian buisnessman and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra in land acquisition case in Haryana.

The court slammed the petition which had demanded CBI investigation in the case.

While dismissing the PIL filed by advocate ML Sharma, the bench of Justice HL Dattu and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that a PIL cannot be used to target and bring down the reputation of one person and for gaining cheap publicity.

Justice Dattu also told Sharma that he shouldn’t destroy the good job done by him for cheap publicity.

Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka had alleged in a report that Vadra had falsified documents to execute a series of fraud transactions for the sale of 3.5 acres of land in Gurgaon to real estate giant DLF for Rs. 58 crore.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government has completely denied giving any preferential treatment to Vadra.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/sc-rejects-petition-against-robert-vadra-says-dont-use-pil-to-target-one-person_886430.html

Indian bond yields rise ahead of RBI policy review

The government bond yields rose on Monday, a day before the central bank's policy review at which it is widely expected to raise the repo rate to further bolster itsinflation fighting credentials. Dealers are waiting to see whether the central bank signals a further increase in repo rates, which could spark a sell-off in the debt markets.

Post trading hours, the central bank said in a report it is important that monetary policy keeps a tight leash to prevent price shocks from getting generalised.

The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points for a second consecutive month, but it is also expected to cut the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 25 basis points. "We are expecting a 25 bps hike in the repo and an equivalent cut in the MSF rate.

The market will closely watch the guidance of the central bank," said R.Sivakumar, head of fixed income at Axis Mutual Fund. The benchmark 10-year bond yield closed 8 bps higher at 8.66 per cent.

It moved in a range of 8.58 per cent to 8.67 per cent during the session. Tuesday's review comes in the backdrop of benign global cues as the Federal Reserve is now expected to hold on to its extraordinary monetary stimulus till 2014 as data out of the United States continues to remain weak. The rupee has recovered 12 per cent since its life low of 68.85 to the dollar on Aug. 28, giving room to the central bank to move further away from its measures to stabilise the rupee.

In the overnight indexed swap market, the benchmark five-year swap rate closed 5 bps up at 8.24 per cent while the one-year rate ended 6 bps higher at 8.43 per cent.

More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/bonds/indian-bond-yields-rise-ahead-of-rbi-policy-review/articleshow/24824433.cms

Storm kills three in UK and Netherlands, shuts down power, trains

A strong storm battered Britain and the Netherlands on Monday, killing three people, cutting power and forcing hundreds of plane and train cancellations as it moved on across mainland Europe.

Winds of up to 99 miles per hour (160 km per hour) lashed southern England and Wales, disrupting the travel plans of millions of commuters - the worst storm recorded in Britain in a decade.

A 17-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell onto her home while she slept in the county of Kent, southeast of London, while a man in his 50s was killed when a tree crushed his car in the town of Watford, just north of the capital.

Thin volumes on London's financial markets suggested many traders had been stuck at home. A crane smashed into the Cabinet Office, a ministry in the heart of London, forcing Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to cancel a press conference.

Heavy winds also swept across the low-lying Netherlands, uprooting trees and shutting down all train traffic to Amsterdam. They were forecast to peak at more than 130 kph by early afternoon.

A woman was killed and two people were seriously hurt by falling trees in the Dutch capital and a ferry carrying 1,000 people from the English city of Newcastle was unable to dock in the port of IJmuiden and returned to sea, RTL television said.

Fifty flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport were cancelled and Rotterdam Port, Europe's busiest, said incoming and outgoing vessels were delayed.

In France, winds topping 100 kph struck the north and northwest, felling trees, whipping up seas and cutting power supplies to around 75,000 homes, according to the ERDF electricity distribution company.

"The thing that's unusual about this one is that most of our storms develop out over the Atlantic so that they've done all their strengthening and deepening by the time they reach us," said Helen Chivers, spokeswoman for Britain's Met office on Sunday.

"This one is developing as it crosses the UK, which is why it brings the potential for significant disruption ... and that doesn't happen very often."

The worst of the storm in Britain had passed by late morning, despite strong winds still battering the east coast, a Met Office spokeswoman said. It was headed towards the Netherlands.

TRADING HIT

London-based trading in sterling against the dollar and the euro was particularly hit, with volumes at around two thirds of normal levels, while British government bond trading was running at barely half its normal volume.

In southern England, toppled trees damaged properties and flooding made some roads impassable.

About 180,000 customers in Britain were left without power in one of the worst storms to hit England since the 1987 "Great Storm" which killed 18 people and felled around 15 million trees.

A 14-year old boy was missing after being swept out to sea on Sunday afternoon before the storm hit. Police said rescuers were forced to call off a search for him late on Sunday due to the pounding waves.

London's Heathrow airport said 130 flights were cancelled, the majority between 0600 and 1100 GMT and told passengers to check with their airlines before travelling.

As the working week began, London's commuter train service was shut down while several Tube lines, which run both underground and overground, were partially suspended due to obstructed tracks.

The Highways Agency, which operates the road network in England, said high winds had forced the closure of the Dartford Crossing, a major motorway bridge linking London to the county of Essex in the east. The Severn motorway bridge linking England to South Wales was also shut down.

Met Office spokesman Dan Williams said the last such comparable storm - taking into consideration the time of year and area affected - was in October 2002.

More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/28/us-britain-weather-storm-idUSBRE99Q07R20131028

2G scam: Magistrate records Dayalu Ammal statement

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) on Monday recorded the statement of Dayalu Ammal, wife of DMK chief M Karunanidhi and a 60 per cent stake holder in Kalaignar TV, in the 2G scam. Dayalu Ammal is a prosecution witness in the case. Officials from the CBI, lawyers of other 2G accused, other directors of Kalaignar TV namely Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar and various DMK functionaries were present at the Gopalapuram residence of Karunanidhi where the statement was recorded. 

The CMM arrived at Dayalu Ammal's residence at 10 am and the questioning continued for around 4 hours. A swarm of media persons had also gathered outside the residence. 84-year-old Dayalu Ammal was exempted from a personal appearance at court by the SC, owing to her ill health. She os reportedly suffering from Alzheimers and Dementia. When asked if her answers were lucid, Sushil Kumar, counsel for Sharad Kumar said, "Her answers were acceptable to court. The recording of evidence is complete." Senior Public prosecutor of the CBI KK Goel said, "All evidence has been recorded, I cannot express any views about it as the court is seized of the matter. Dayalu Ammal was co-operative." Dayalu Ammal's name cropped up during the investigation of the Rs 200 crore money trail that led to Kalaignar TV. 

Kanimozhi, Stalin and Karunanidhi left the residence after the statement was recorded but none of them came forward to give a statement to the media waiting outside. DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan was heard telling reporters that as it was a court proceeding only relevant officials and lawyers were present with Dayalu Ammal when the statement was being recorded. Dayalu Ammal's name cropped up during the investigation of the Rs 200 crore money trail that led to Kalaignar TV, in which she owns 60 per cent stake. Rs 200 crore were allegedly kickbacks from Shahid Balwa's Swan telecom. The money trail led the CBI to charge Kanimozhi, Dayalu Ammal's step daughter, as a co-conspirator in the 2G scam.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/2g-scam-magistrate-records-dayalu-ammal-statement/430996-37-64.html?utm_source=ref_article

Indian Mujahideen operative Afzal Usmani arrested from Uttar Pradesh: Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad

Fugitive Indian Mujahideen operative Afzal Usmani, who had escaped from a Mumbai court last month, was rearrested by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad from a place in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday when he was trying to flee to Nepal, police said.

Usmani, an accused in the 2008 Ahmedabad bombings case, was arrested outside Rupadia railway station around 3.30 am, Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria told reporters.

Usmani's arrest materialised after his nephew Javed Nurullah Hussain Khan, who had assisted in his escape from Mumbai, was picked up by the ATS on October 25, Maria said.

The officer said Javed, who was arrested, informed ATS that Usmani was camping at Tatera village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh with his relatives since fleeing the MCOCA court in Mumbai.

Following the input received from Javed, an ATS team reached Tatera village but Usmani managed to slip away. He was, however, tracked down to Rupadia railway station and arrested, Maria said.

He said ever since his escape on September 20, Usmani travelled to Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur with Javed, son of his sister Safia Khatoon, a resident of Dharavi, before reaching Tatera.

He had sent Javed to Mumbai to fetch some documents which could help him conceal his identity before escaping to Nepal through the porous Indo-Nepal border.

In a major security lapse, the IM operative, who was brought to the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) court along with 18 others from Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai on September 20 in connection with Ahmedabad blasts, had given police the slip.

According to police, Usmani was involved in stealing four cars which were used to transport explosives to Ahmedabad and Surat. He was also charged with planting bombs.

A series of 21 bomb blasts had rocked Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, within a span of 70 minutes, killing 56 people and wounding over 200.

Some bombs were planted in tiffin carriers on bicycles. Many of the blasts targeted the city bus service, ripping apart portions of the vehicles. Two blasts took place inside the premises of two hospitals, about 40 minutes after the initial series of blasts.

26 unexploded bombs were found at different locations in Surat between July 28 and 30. Two cars filled with material required for making explosives and detonators were found parked on the roadside near a hospital and other on outskirts of Surat.


Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-mujahideen-afzal-usmani-maharashtra-ats-2008-ahmedabad-blasts/1/320618.html

Live - Patna blasts a conspiracy to kill Narendra Modi, says BJP

The main opposition party, BJP, on Monday attacked the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar over its failure to avert Sunday's blast in Patna and said that it was a conspiracy to kill its PM candidate Narendra Modi.

Addressing a press conference in Patna, state's former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi said, "I feel Sunday's serial blasts in Patna were a conspiracy to eliminate Gujarat Chief Minister and our PM candidate Narendra Modi."

Sushil Modi even attacked the Nitish Kumar government for ignoring the threats to Modi's life and asked, "Why was an anti-sabotage check not conducted."

"One of the low intensity bombs exploded just 100 metres away from the stage where Modi ji and other senior leaders were present. Imagine what would have happened,"Sushil Modi asked.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley blamed the Bihar government and the state police for completely ignoring the intelligence inputs about Modi's 'Hunkar' rally.

Talking to reporters, Jaitley said, "As per our information, Bihar's Additional DGP was sent two alerts, we want Centre & state govt to confirm this. There was a generic intelligence alert on October 1 and a specific alert was sent to Bihar govt on October 23 and then on October 27."

Coming down heavily on the Nitish Kumar government for ignoring the intelligence alerts, Jaitley said, "Bihar govt can't wash its hands off the matter by saying there was no intelligence alert about the rally."

Seeking clarification the Centre and the Bihar government, the BJP leader said, "We need to find out whether yesterday's conspiracy was executed by the same faction (IM)."

"All I can say is that the attitude was casual and callous. There is a security drill in this country, so must let Centre along with state government look into what security lapses were there," Jaitley said.

Attacking the Bihar government for mismanagement, Jaitley said, "Had we not assured people that these were fire crackers, there could be unprecedented consequences due to a stampede there," adding, "If a casualty was further averted, it was purely our good fortune."

Jaitley even questioned Centre's soft approach to incidents of terrorism by saying, "Are we going to be soft on security because some state governments want to be seen as soft on terror for collateral reasons?"

"We were asked to call off Patna rally when we reached there because four blasts had already happened, " Jaitley commented adding, "When a Chief Minister of a different state goes to another then Advanced Security Drill is conducted which host state has to certify. Bihar did not certify it."

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who has come under the opposition attack for attending a film related event in Mumbai on a day when serial blasts took place in Patna, said that he will visit the Bihar capital tomorrow to review the situation.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/news/bihar/live-patna-blasts-a-conspiracy-to-kill-narendra-modi-says-bjp_886447.html